We had been through nearly four years of searching for answers to our oldest son, Matthew’s, angry outbursts, failure to follow through with instructions, with fear and stress weighing him down. When I was at my whit’s end and totally misunderstood by other moms, a woman from our church told me about a neighbor who had success in helping her child who was experiencing similar things. She handed me THE MIRACLES OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT. With great anticipation, I listened intently. When Robert Doman claimed that the kids with ADHD were the “easy” ones, I was ready to prove him wrong.

During this time, my life had been reduced to keeping our other children safe from their brother, who would throw heavy objects across the room, kick, punch or scare them with his hour -plus long temper tantrums. At bedtime, I would have to climb to the top bunk and lie next to my now eight-year-old son, who had never been able to sleep through the night. He would hold my hand in a death-grip for security and it would easily be 1 am before I could sneak away. By five a.m. he would awake and come into my and my husband’s bedroom. Being a bright child, he knew how to manipulate and confuse us, wearing us down.

When I say that we had tried everything under the sun as a solution, I mean it. From rewarding good behavior to taking away items or privileges for disobeying, to counseling and professionally recommended nutritional changes to medical exams. Yes, avoiding certain additives, preservatives and foods did help some with his hyperactivity, but overall, we were still facing what seemed like insurmountable obstacles.

On the day of our first appointment with NACD, Matthew was having an OCD meltdown. He turned pale and felt like vomiting. We literally had to drag him into the car and then into the building. As soon as Bob Doman greeted Matthew and instructed him to go upstairs, he got off the ground and walked behind Bob. It was as if he were following the Pied Piper!

After he was evaluated in each area of brain development, Bob called us into the room, while our son was instructed to wait in another area. Bob shared the results with us, explaining that Matthew felt like everything was out of control, and therefore felt the need to try to control everything around him. He proceeded to show us where there were neurological inefficiencies and how each of these areas would be addressed. He created and showed us how to implement a personalized program that would prove to bring success to our child’s life. Three key words were given to us:

Frequency

Intensity

Duration

Bob then shared with Matthew the new boundaries and consequences for breaking the new rules. He also emphasized to us the importance of giving ten times more positive input verses negative input. Knowing that our son would test the waters made me feel very nervous. Would I be strong enough to hold him accountable to the new standard? The next day, Matthew crossed the line and consequences were given. It was a whole year later before he attempted that again!

Each day, I endeavored to be consistent in doing each and every activity, exercise, or academic pursuit. During the years that we did NACD program, we grew into a family with nine children. You can imagine how busy it was as we homeschooled. Since Matthew required a quiet atmosphere to focus on his work, we eventually hired a tutor to help with some of his program and other academics. One day it dawned on me that Matthew was thriving! He had gone from not being able to read anything at eight years old to reading on an adult level at age eleven. Now he was able to carry out instructions and go through his routine without us having to constantly repeat ourselves. His interactions with family members was slowly getting better. He was finally ready to attempt writing skills. His auditory processing and visual memory were both improving. The OCD behaviors were decreasing.

At 17 years old, he wrote in to the NY TIMES for the OP-ED page and his response was published. He went on to have his writing appear about a dozen times on the Op-ed page over the next several years. Matthew graduated from Harvard University and is an excellent communicator.

What we discovered along the way is that finding answers is like searching for all of the pieces of a puzzle. In Matthew’s case, it was a combination of counseling, dietary changes, learning to be more consistent, endless prayers and for sure a key component was the brilliant assistance we found in the NACD family.

Two of our other children also experienced excellent assistance from their NACD programs. One of them was displaying what appeared to be autism. I love the fact that NACD does not label children, rather, they specialize in helping each child reach their full potential. Diligently working on auditory processing, visual memory, reading and math skills, etc., James made strides in every area of brain development.

Another son was born prematurely and needed assistance in the areas of kinesthetics and language development. It wasn’t too long before George went from not being able to utter even a single word to catching up in his language skills. Over time, he completed all of the areas of brain development as well.

We are forever grateful to Bob and his caring, qualified staff for coming alongside of us as parents. They equipped us with the tools needed to intervene where there were obstacles and encouraged us all along the way to do our best in helping our kids reach their full potential.

Reprinted by permission of The NACD Foundation, Volume 33 No. 4, 2020 ©NACD

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Jake is the youngest of three children. He was first flagged as struggling academically in kindergarten and then again in grade one. Jake struggled with saying the alphabet, sounding out the alphabet, math, staying focused, sitting still and making/keeping friends. At home, he was busy physically with sports, but could not get along with siblings, couldn’t take a joke, had multiple meltdowns over silly things and spent a large part of everyday upset and crying. Our family spent the majority of our days walking on egg shells in hopes of not triggering Jake.

Jake’s grade one teacher convinced me to have a psychologist evaluation done in order to help get the support Jake needed in school. I ended up paying $1300 for a 3-hour evaluation where I was not allowed to be present. The psychologist diagnosed him with ADHD and said he was the most severe she had ever seen and that he would never be able to function without medication.

In the fall of grade two, I started Jake on the recommended stimulant drug and within a short amount of time he was a walking zombie, no spunk, no personality glossy eyed, no appetite but he was able to focus. At the 7-month mark, our family physician discontinued his medication due to a 10 lbs weight loss. Jake’s personality returned and so did his appetite and we were thrilled. We vowed never to medicate again.

In the fall of grade three, I was still very concerned with Jake’s academics. I expressed my concerns and our history to a doctor at work whom I had never met before. To me, this encounter was like divine intervention. He recommended a program called NACD. The doctor encouraged me not to wait but to act as he handed me a USB stick with an audio recording of child development. When I left work that day, I had a plan and I had hope for the first time.

We had our evaluation in December of grade three, near the end of 2014. I liked how Sara conducted Jake’s evaluation. I was allowed to be present for the whole evaluation which took maybe a total of 2 hours. Prior to the evaluation, I had filled out paper work on things, like what did Jake eat, how much screen time did he get, physical activity, team sports and how many hrs of sleep he was getting a night, were just a few of the questions. In my opinion, this was actually a head to toe assessment of what was going on in this child’s world. I was sold on NACD from just the evaluation alone.

Within a few days, Sara Erling our Developmentalist, emailed us a program that she’d developed specifically for Jake based on his needs. We started immediately. Within weeks, we started to see changes, but the greatest change happened at approximately the three-month mark. Jake, in a short amount of time, was no longer wiggling all over the place and was able to sit and focus for extended periods of time in class. I was now more determined than ever to continue this program. With the help of NACD and our Developmentalist, Sara, our goal was to get Jake to grade level and able to function without supports.

With our Developmentalist, Sara Erling, we have worked with Jake to meet his specific needs. Sara has done an amazing job supporting both Jake and the family. She has helped instill positive behaviours as well as delivering quarterly evaluations. She continues to set the bar higher and higher to ensure we continue to see the changes necessary to move Jake forward.

NACD isn’t about a band aid solution like stimulant drugs. They are helping parents help their children to get lasting results through brain development aka neuroplasticity. In a short 3.5 yrs, NACD has helped us develop Jake to the point where he can thrive on his own without supports or medication! Not bad for a child who according to one, would never function without medication (heavy sarcasm). We have a confident, happy, thriving child who knows that he can be successful in life with whatever he chooses.

Thank you, Sara Erling, for never using labels and always knowing that we would get Jake to the finish line. You have changed our lives for the better and we are so grateful for all you do!!

—Rachel Schappy (Mother)

NACD Newsletter, June 2018 ©NACD

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You are my sunshine
My only sunshine
You make my happy
When skies are gray
You’ll never know dear
How much I love you.
Please don’t take
My sunshine away

How many nights I sang that song to a croupy, wheezing, fussy Sunny. Her arms would fly out, her feet would push off.

“Sunny, Sunny, shh, baby.”

Colds, allergies, ear infections, tonsillitis made her miserable. But Sunny was a bright “Little Bunny” and we kept her going and helped her grow. We were in Pittsburgh at this time, while my husband was working on a PhD, at Carnegie-Mellon University in Design Engineering. I had a BA from the University of Pittsburgh. My work experience, before Sunny, was running Horizon Home, one of the first group homes for severely brain injured children, ages 3-14. The selection process for Horizon Home was difficult because I had to go to various institutions in Pennsylvania and find children with IQ’s under 30. That meant I worked with all types of physical and developmental problems. For each child I would have to analyze their development, plan a treatment to improve their function and get them to the next level. It was all new territory for a state maintained facility and a young staff. But through thirty children and three years, I acquired love, respect and experience that serves me even today.

So, when I got that phone call from Sunny’s school counselor in first grade, “Mrs. Faulhaber, we don’t want to upset you before the Christmas holiday, but Sunny has a problem…” I was already plenty upset. Sunny wasn’t reading, her information was here today, gone tomorrow, she didn’t see the spacing between the words, her balance and coordination were off, and it seemed like she didn’t want to run and jump. The teacher was yelling at her and the kids in the class ostracized her. Her allergies were getting even worse since our move to Florida. Sunny was clearly losing ground despite my best efforts.

During the meeting at the school, my husband and I were told that Sunny had severe learning disabilities, a combination of attention deficit disorder and dyslexia, and she would not learn to read. We could expect her to get some vocational job. Although I didn’t say it, “Over my dead body!” rang in my head. If I could improve the function of the children at Horizon Home, I could do it for Sunny. Just how I had to find out.

What did St. Petersburg, or Florida or the nation, have for children with learning disabilities? It was not quite noon that same day and I was on the phone. The answers were coming up Compensate, Cope and Limit. I tried my sister Sal. Her daughter had been brain injured from a DPT shot and they were doing a program out of Philadelphia for her. I knew that program would not be appropriate, but what did Sal know about Robert Doman and The National Association for Child Development (NACD) that I had seen on a TV interview. My sister gave me the name of a contact mom in Florida who talked to me for three hours.

This, I thought, had a chance of working, but there was no center yet in Florida. So, we got our first evaluation and program three weeks later in Redlands, California. Sunny had a younger brother, a baby sister, I had pneumonia and my husband traveled a lot. I could accomplish a one hour program each day. NACD said that would work.

Back home we did our activities to improve her eye convergence, hearing, balance and coordination, lung capacity, short- and long-term memory, reading and math. Her school environment wasn’t good, so I called a public elementary school featured in the St. Petersburg Times. The principal was receptive and we talked for a total of five hours over the next few months. Later, when I asked her why had she given so much of her time when my child wasn’t in her school, she said, “I never heard a mother like you before.” She did in fact respect my views and nominated me to our county school board committee, selecting the elementary, spelling, writing and reading series for a school system with 100,000 students. I served two years.

Sunny ended up failing first grade, more because it was the school fulfilling their prophecy than Sunny’s problems warranted. So I went back to the public school principal and said, “If Sunny can pass the tests in August, she can start second grade.” Sunny passed AND the psychologist didn’t find the learning disabilities.

Second grade taught her reading and built confidence. Her teacher strongly supported my efforts by doing some of her program activities at school. And during announcements, the principal would call Sunny’s name along with other good students. Then, she’d be presented individually with a listing of her accomplishments and a gold pencil, a small mirror or comb something little that Sunny thought was wonderful.

By third grade she was on the Honor Roll. In fifth grade she won third place in the County Science Fair for a waterway lock, the Presidential Academic Fitness Award and the Pride Award in Social Studies. This award was given at Ruth Eckerd Hall, a very large concert hall in our area, to the best, eighth and twelfth grade students in Creative Writing, Science, Math, or Social Studies by the Superintendent of Schools and the School Board. As the awards were presented, I couldn’t just sit there. I had to see her face. So I worked my way slowly down the left outside aisle to get a good look. Sunny was bright and beaming, just a little self-conscious. I could hardly see that much through erupting tears. Oh, I had been frightened for her. But now, much relieved.

Winning in the Social Studies category was no surprise. My husband traveled for business and sometimes we went. But many more times when he left, my children and I left in our own directions. To date, we have been all over Europe including the Scandinavian countries and Russia, the United States, including Alaska, twice to Central America, the Bahamas, Hong Kong and China, seeing art museums, historic and scientific sites, experiencing new foods and cultures.

However, Sunny found her forte when in ninth grade she entered the Pinellas County Center for the Arts (PCCA) at Gibbs High School. PCCA is a magnet school with visual art, literary, performance, technical and musical theater, instrumental music, vocal training, or dance. For three periods a day the students take classes in their art. For four periods, they are enrolled in college prep classes. Sunny learned visual art, drawing, 2D and 3D design, all types of print making, metal and plaster sculpture, photography, watercolor, ink washes, acrylic and oil painting, large installations and art history. In class, she took math to trigonometry and analytic geometry, AP history, AP English and honors chemistry. Sunny teaches art history in her AP European history class, three times a month. Her English teacher loves her, and her chemistry teacher recently questioned her, “Why aren’t you taking more math? You are so smart in chemistry.” Last year, as an apprentice to the Renaissance Festival, she made costumes and acted. With four friends, they produced a haunted house, “Foreboden,” which they designed, then coordinated the volunteer efforts of many children and the monetary contributions of area businesses to benefit Girls Clubs in our county.

But last Sunday was truly spectacular. Sunny collected and we organized all her best art work for National Portfolio Day at the Ringling School of Design. All the best art schools and universities meet to critique the areas of art work. Sunny’s art work was accepted to her first choice, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. They further nominated her for a merit scholarship with benefits of 10%, 20% or 40% for all four years. The Rhode Island School of Design spent 45 minutes talking to her about the depth and breadth of her work. “Do you know how many applicants we get who can do all this and costume design and make haunted houses, too? Not many. We want you, too.” But when Carnegie Mellon University, her dad’s alma mater, started saying good things, and “tell me about this piece,” Sunny responded with what the representative called, “the best of the right answers. You’re good, Sunny. You and Carnegie-Mellon are a seamless match. You have an excellent creative attitude and we are going to highly, highly recommend you. Please apply.” Sunny beamed. When Sunny told her dad, he said, “I’m so proud of you, and they never begged me to come.” She laughed, “Dad, that’s because I’m better than you at what I do best…”

But really, isn’t that what we want. We would like to provide the opportunities that cause our children to exceed us in what they love to do.

You are my sunshine
My only sunshine
You make my happy
When skies are gray.
You’ll never know dear
How much I love you…

Thank you to Robert Doman and The National Association for Child Development (NACD) for first providing the expertise to eliminate Sunny’s learning problems, but also the continued benefit of that association for my son, younger daughter and myself. I more clearly see how to improve function and help families than I could have ever thought possible in my early days in Pittsburgh.

Thanks again and thanks forever.

Reprinted by permission of The NACD Foundation, Volume 10 No. 8, 1996 ©NACD

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He repeated Kindergarten even though his teachers thought he was a “genius.” We knew he was very bright, but functionally he was very behind. He could not dress himself properly, eat or stand and walk without losing his balance. He seemed so young especially when our second child arrived. He was simply not moving on developmentally. Many people feared they added to this by babying him, but it was impossible not to. The fear of him wandering into danger was a constant.

He was tested through Special Education near the end of the first grade. After much soul searching we tried a short trial of Ritalin (5 mg. 2 times a day). Quickly we saw it wasn’t right for him. Fortunately!

We took Dane to Mr. Doman in March of 1994. He was not reading pre-primer. He was memorizing words. Mr. Doman evaluated Dane and told us he was “The most disorganized child” he’d seen in 25 years. But also he told us it was fixable. Of course we were stunned and perplexed. But we had reached a critical stage where we felt we were losing Dane to his imagination. He was moving into a sheltered world of his own. We were very frightened. But the word “fixable” gave us hope. Had he told us we had to walk on our hands the rest of our lives I think we would have!

We asked how this could have happened and he told us it probably was before birth. He also told us that Dane’s “mind didn’t know where his body was.” This is basically what the special ed. tester had told us days before.

We started an intense program with NACD immediately. Fortunately we had a willing subject. When I told him he could read and be strong like the other children, he said “Show me how!” He began to crawl around on the floor, which was part of the program. We were going to make him right-dominant which was the hand he used for most functions. We were to patch his left-dominant eye for the bulk of the day and occlude his left ear. When implemented this did appear to help him hear us better.

That first week we noted some slight improvements. But, by the end of the week which was a whirlwind, an amazing thing happened. I had a ‘revelation’ as if I saw a movie in my mind. Dane was sitting on my aunt’s lap, with her holding his right hand and forcing him to eat with it. When I excitedly told my husband “Dane’s left handed”! he thought I’d lost my mind. I told him what I saw and about my father and brother, who are left-handed, and how they had experienced the same thing with teachers, and how it used to be the practice to force right handedness, with the idea it would help them. I went to my aunt and she delighted in telling me how she had forced him to use his right hand.

After consulting with Mr. Doman it was decided that we would make Dane’s left hand his dominant hand. We immediately began patching his right eye and occluding his right ear. But how was I going to get him to use his left hand? Simple. I told him that it would help him read. His reply, “You mean I can read anything about God and Science I want? OK!” Very soon we saw dramatic results. Everyone noticed. He recognized himself in the mirror for the first time, could catch a ball, acknowledge people immediately, speak promptly when spoken to.

Within three months his performance in reading excelled his previous test scores.

The beginning of second grade presented a new child, the same sweet considerate one but, one who could find another room or the playground on his own. One who didn’t need to be led by the other children. The children exclaimed “Dane’s really smart this year!” I would just say “He was always smart, he just couldn’t show you.”

After receiving a recommendation from Mr. Doman, we had Dane receive Auditory Enhancement Training in March of 1995. This was very beneficial. His speech had been very robotic and monotone, and although improved, was still very noticeable. During AET there was sudden improvement in his intonation. Improvements in many other areas occurred in the ten days of training. The first day back at school, for the first time in his life he walked up the steps without stopping when another person was walking or running by. I cried.

This school year (third grade) is half way over. He has received A’s and B’s. He’s still a little behind socially. Some motor skills are a little delayed but, we are confident with the program and realize some things are going to take a little more time.

“One step forward and two steps back.” A phrase we heard and said many times has become a thing of the past.

We know that our son can reach his potential. We now hear “One day I’m going to say, ‘I knew him!'”

Reprinted by permission of The NACD Foundation, Volume 10 No. 8, 1996 ©NACD

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As a preschooler, Brian was a happy, busy, normal little boy. The third of four boys, he was extremely creative, very energetic, and a lot of fun. He loved to wear costumes all day every day. He and his friends chose to entertain themselves with their imagination instead of toys. They loved to put on shows with costumes and props. They transformed our playroom into the dog pound, McDonald’s, a castle, or an island with sharks all around it. Brian’s development was normal. As a young child, he crawled, crept, walked, and talked at a normal time.

When Brian was 5 years old, we decided to home school our children. The activities I did with him were almost all oral and kinesthetic to match his development and interest. He had absolutely no interest in even trying to learn letters, which I dismissed as his temperament. He wanted to be busy, not sitting still looking at letters.

Because he was born August 31, in a school district with a September 1 cutoff day for beginning school, we decided to wait until Brian was 6 to start kindergarten. That way, when he did enter a traditional school, he would not be the youngest in his class. He loved math because it was all oral and he got to play with the manipulatives. No matter how many different ways I tried to teach him his letters, though, he simply could not remember them. We played games with letters, drew letters with chalk on the sidewalk, traced letters with pudding finger paint, sang songs about letters, and anything else we could think of to help him learn. Even after all these activities, he still struggled to recall even a few letters. We both were increasingly frustrated. I knew that either he was not very smart (although he showed certain areas that seemed very bright) or something weird was going on. We decided to have some testing done on him.

In January 1991, when Brian was almost 6 1/2, we took him to the Minirth-Meier Clinic for a psychoeducational evaluation (I.Q. test, etc.). He was given the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, the Beery Test for Visual-Motor Integration, and the Wide Range Achievement Test, Level 1. On his I.Q. test, his verbal score was 119, and his performance score was 82. In a normal child, the I.Q. will be within five points on the two parts of the test. If the scores are 16 or more points apart, the child is labeled learning disabled. Brian’s scores were 37 points apart, which was a huge difference. The Beery Test showed an Age Equivalence Score of 5 years, 6 months (10 months behind his actual age). This was considered a severe difficulty in the areas of visual-motor integration and processing. According to the evaluator, “Brian was not able to write the alphabet in sequence and duplicated many letters, left out letters, and wrote letters backwards. He was able to write his numbers from 1 through 20, although the writing was from right to left. All numbers were written backwards except 4, 5, and 6. Brian was also unable to name the months of the year or to count backwards.”

On the Wide Range Achievement Test, Brian ranked at a preschool level in reading and spelling, and a 1st grade level in math. The comment was, “Brian was not able to actually spell any words, but he was able to duplicate some designs. He was also able to write his name. Brian was unable to read any words. He was able to do some arithmetic in his head, although when given paper and pencil, he was unable to write it down accurately. Brian has severe difficulties with written expression, both with letters and with numbers and will need special interventions in order for him to begin learning at his potential.”

The bottom line was that Brian had a severe learning disability and motor problems. They also felt that he had ADD or ADHD and gave me a brochure on the subject with the suggestion that I talk to my pediatrician about medication. I chose not to put Brian on Ritalin because he was already on numerous medications for his severe asthma.

Even at age 6, Brian was struggling with a sense of failure. The evaluator commented that throughout the testing, Brian kept saying, “My little brother can do this, but I can’t do this.” We had never put our children in a position where they were compared, but Brian knew intuitively that there were things he ought to be able to do that he couldn’t do. He felt stupid. His self-esteem was already suffering.

It was suggested that we apply to have Brian tested at the Learning Disabilities Laboratory at the Scottish Rite Hospital, and in February, we were thrilled to hear that we were accepted for an appointment in July. It seemed so far away, but I thought they would really help us.

The results of the testing at Minirth-Meier were very discouraging. The diagnosis helped explain some of the problems we were having, but did not offer very much hope for the future. I started reading everything I could get my hands on. One of the articles I found was in Teaching Home Magazine, (June/July, 1990), a magazine designed for home schoolers. This article stated that there were two camps when it came to learning disabilities: cope and cure. By far, the majority opinion was that the best you could do for your child was to help him cope with his lifelong disability. There was a program, though, that aimed at “curing” the child. That got my attention immediately. The only choice in the “cure” camp was NACD, and I started tracking them down. I ordered a set of tapes from NACD and found them intriguing. I approached NACD as a skeptic. I did not believe that Brian’s learning disability could be cured, but I thought this program might help, and nothing else I was doing was working.

We took Brian to be evaluated by Bob Doman in April 1991, when Brian was 6 1/2 years old. Bob does not like labels, but he agreed that Brian’s brain was very disorganized. What he offered us was hope. Brian’s digit spans were 4 and 4, which means he was processing and storing information in short term memory like a 4 year old. He was right-eyed, right-eared, right-footed, but his hand was mixed dominant. He wrote and colored exclusively with his left hand, but he ate with either hand, threw a ball with his right hand, and seemed to use both hands equally for most tasks. His “handwriting” at this point was almost impossible to read. Bob chose to switch his dominance to the right, which meant changing him from “ambidextrous” to right-handed. In order to change the dominance of his hand, we did many exercises and activities to strengthen his right hand and ignore his left hand. Because most of these activities were fun and certainly better than “school,” Brian gave us very little resistance to the program. We also worked on his digit spans, his balance and coordination, his lung capacity, and his academics. The hardest part of the program was the self-discipline to do it every day. Like any therapy, it gets boring and tedious. We found that we had to exert a tremendous amount of discipline on ourselves to do what needed to be done. The only thing that kept us going was the possibility that this could really work for Brian. We had to keep our eyes on the goal.

One idea that we came up with helped Brian tremendously with his self-esteem. When we first understood the idea behind NACD, (that learning disabilities and ADD are a result of neurological disorganization), we shared with Brian that we had just gotten the best news in the world. The reason he was having problems learning letters was that he had a “tricky brain,” and we had found a way to fix “tricky brains.” We invented a character named “Mr. Tricky,” and every time Brian wrote a letter backwards or couldn’t remember a letter, we would say, “Stop it, Mr. Tricky! Leave Brian alone!” Then we would assure Brian that it was only “Mr. Tricky” who was messing up his brain. It was not his fault that he couldn’t remember that letter. It took the guilt off of him and put it on a neutral party (“Mr. Tricky”) that we were in the process of banishing from his life. This helped him also see that there was an attainable goal in the future, which was no more “tricky brain.”

After 3 months, in July 1991, we had Brian re-evaluated by Bob. His digit spans had improved to 5 and 6, and his dominance was showing some improvement. With a few changes in our program, we were set to press on for another 3 months. We saw very little change in Brian, but we still held out hope that it would work. This evaluation came just before our appointment at Scottish Rite.

At the end of July 1991, we had Brian tested at Scottish Rite. The results of this testing were discouraging. They diagnosed Brian with Specific Developmental Dyslexia, ADD (moderate to severe) and a 2-year motor delay. They were most kind, but not hopeful that Brian would be easily able to overcome these problems. They told me to spend the next year (until he was almost 8 years old) trying very hard to teach Brian his alphabet. When he was 8, if he had learned his alphabet, and if he had increased his attention span, then they would put him in their Dyslexia Laboratory Class. They felt that within 2 1/2 years, by the time he was 10, they could probably teach him to read. I told them about NACD, which they had never heard of. The doctor told me that they found in their studies that 95% of all learning disabled children were mixed dominant, but in their opinion, it didn’t mean anything. I asked if anything we were doing on the NACD program would hurt Brian. They answered that it would not hurt him, but it would not help him. Little did they know what was going on inside Brian’s brain!

In October 1991, shortly after Brian’s 7th birthday, and after we had been on the program 6 months, we had a major breakthrough. Within two weeks time Brian went from struggling to remember his alphabet to reading! The phonics curriculum we were using had small, simple readers. It would take us sometimes two or three weeks to get through one reader because we had to take it one letter at a time. One day in October, Brian picked up a new reader and read the whole thing in one sitting! I couldn’t believe it! He soon was devouring books. His attention span also improved. This was especially evident to his grandparents in Atlanta. We had visited them the previous summer, and Brian was a whirlwind of activity. We were in Atlanta again at Christmas time of that year, and within hours everyone was commenting about Brian and how calm he was. What a change they saw in him! He was acting like a normally active boy instead of a hyperactive boy. We were so excited!

Another dramatic shift we observed was in the area of working jigsaw puzzles. The summer that he was almost 7, Brian could not even work a 12-piece puzzle. He could not visually process enough to tell the difference between an edge piece and a centerpiece. He also did not have the attention span to work on it for very long. When he was 7 1/2, I will always remember the day he chose to get a 100-piece puzzle out of the cabinet and work it by himself! He not only could visually process well enough to put the pieces together, but he also had the attention span to stick with it until it was done. We were thrilled!

In January 1992, we saw Bob again. This time, Brian’s digit spans were 7 and 7, and his dominance was 90% on the right. He was reading on a 4th grade level! Remember that only 5 months previously, he had not been able to read at all! His balance had improved tremendously, and his eye convergence was complete. What progress he had made!

We continued on program, but due to many unusual circumstances, we were not able to see Bob again until October. By then, Brian was doing marvelously well. He was reading on a 6th grade level (at the beginning of 2nd grade). Brian had graduated from NACD as a normal child; no, he was well above normal!

Since then, Brian has used the same advanced curriculum in home school as his older brothers. He continues to test 2 to 5 grade levels ahead on every area of the Iowa Test of Basic Skills. When asked what his favorite subject is, he always answers “Reading!” without hesitation.

Now in 4th grade, we call Brian “Mr. Observant” because he never misses a thing. He plays on football and basketball teams, loves to ride bikes, rollerblade, and everything else a 10-year old boy ought to do. He is a natural leader, extremely reliable, very focused, and will be a huge asset to this world. It is hard to believe that at 10 1/2, he is such a different person than we were led to believe he would be. Gone is the dyslexia, gone is the ADD, gone is the motor delay. Here to stay is a high achieving, focused sports fanatic. We are so thrilled to have found NACD and experience the joy of normalcy! Thank you Lord, and thank you Bob Doman!

UPDATE, April, 2003

Brian is now 18 and graduating from high school next month. He has continued to excel in all areas and has never again shown any signs of dyslexia or ADD since he was “cured” by his NACD program. He is salutatorian of his high school and has been accepted into the highly competitive Business Honors program at Texas A&M University for next year. He scored 1280 on his SAT’s, and other testing has shown a dramatic increase in his I.Q. Without specifically working on it, his visual digit span has risen to 12, and his auditory digit span is at 8. We just tested him for fun last week and discovered this. We agreed he should work on his auditory digit span to get it to that superior level of 12! He is an Eagle Scout, works part-time, played football at his school, has earned the school’s highest award for character three years in a row, and is one of the finest young men you will ever meet. We are very proud of him and thankful to NACD for removing the stumbling blocks that would have kept him from becoming the man he is today.

Reprinted by permission of The NACD Foundation, Volume 10 No. 8, 1996 ©NACD

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When Joshua was five and the time that he should start kindergarten was fast approaching, I agonized over placing him in a formal school setting. He was very active and did not like to sit still. He would not sit down to eat, but preferred to stand at the table, practically running in place while he ate. He was fidgety and impulsive. He was frequently irritated over the most insignificant thing and would flail around in frustration. Having a fall birthday meant that he turned five just after the school deadline, so I used that year to work with him at home, hoping to get him ready for school.

But Josh wasn’t interested in learning letters and numbers; he just wanted to constantly play, run, jump—anything but sit still. No matter what I tried, he wasn’t retaining anything. I was afraid traditional school would not be a good fit for him.

One day while talking with a friend, who happened to be an elementary school principal, I described Josh’s behavior. “It sounds like he would be sitting in front of my office a lot,” she said. That was exactly what I was afraid of. Knowing that she understood what I was talking about wasn’t helpful, though; I needed solutions.

I began studying various educational philosophies and looking for an appropriate school for my son. Finally I settled on a nearby Montessori school and Joshua did well there, especially in learning math. Because the Montessori method allowed for movement in an open multi-age classroom where children can choose from a variety of learning activities, a lot of Joshua’s issues were tolerable. Unfortunately, the school only went up to 3rd grade, and once again I was faced with the difficult dilemma of Josh’s schooling.

After much soul-searching, research, and prayer, I brought Joshua home for school and redoubled my efforts at creating a positive, but structured parenting environment. Since I had taken Montessori training and had been working at the school, I was excited about continuing the same philosophy at home. Nevertheless, the next two years were an exercise in futility. Yes, we had some fun together from time to time, but mostly we struggled. If I required that Joshua do something he didn’t want to, he would throw an intense tantrum, such that a simple five-minute handwriting assignment would turn into a 20-minute wailing and screaming fit. He would do math in his head, but would stubbornly refuse to write anything down. I spent a lot of time nagging, cajoling, bribing, or withholding privileges.

As Josh grew in years, he continued to be very childish and unpredictable in his attitude and behavior. Like a firecracker, he would burst with anger and lash out at others, even physically at times. He was extremely impulsive and, worse, he was becoming more and more violent. Thus, when he was 11, I sought the help of a well-known neuropsychologist, who, I hoped, would not just push medication, but offer specific advice on what to do with Josh—how to raise him, how to teach him, and how to live with him. How could we help him become a productive member of society? How could we help him overcome his anger issues so he wouldn’t end up seriously hurting someone? How will he keep a job or have satisfying, close relationships? Or was he going to end up destitute, homeless, or in jail?

The evaluation at a prominent learning and behavior center was an all-day event that essentially established that my child had some significant issues. The doctor slapped Joshua with a myriad of labels: ADHD-Combined type, Oppositional Defiant Disorder, and Adjustment Disorder with Mixed Emotional Features. Indications were that Joshua might also experience developmental reading, mathematics and written language disorders. The recommendations were to return Joshua to a professional school setting, get a tutor for him, put him on a medication, and involve him in exploratory psychotherapy.

I felt like I had totally failed my son. Without using the words, I felt like the doctor was telling me that Joshua was a mess, that I was doing a horrible job homeschooling him, that I was neglecting his emotional development, and that Joshua had not progressed academically. To fix that, we were to put Josh in the hands of the “experts.”

Going home that day I felt devastated. I knew that homeschooling on my own wasn’t working. With Joshua’s emotional instability, I didn’t know when to push and when to hold back. I knew I needed help, and I felt my only option was to follow the recommendations we had been given. In utter desperation, I picked up the phone book and started listing all the schools within driving distance, both public and private. My plan was to describe the issues my son was dealing with and ask if they could work with him. Then, at the end of the school listings, I saw NACD’s listing stating that they help those with ADHD and learning disabilities, as well as other issues. I immediately investigated this option! As I read through the information on NACD’s website, I was relieved that there was something available that focused on a child’s individual needs and could improve concentration and behavioral issues without medication.

After receiving and listening to NACD’s introductory CDs, Guide to Child Development and Education, I was impressed with the idea of organizing the brain. Could that be the source of Joshua’s problems? I couldn’t wait to learn more. Even though I had an evaluation scheduled for Joshua, I attended a homeschool convention just so I could meet with an NACD evaluator who was going to be there. The visit with Sara was very reassuring and I began to be encouraged.

Unlike the previous neuropsychological evaluation which had left me feeling that Josh had a heap of insurmountable, incurable disorders for which medication was the only option, the neurodevelopmental assessment done by NACD made me feel that Joshua’s problems could be overcome and were actually a rather mild case for NACD. Sara designed an individualized program that addressed Josh’s specific underlying problems that caused his inability to sit still, concentrate, and regulate emotionally. I didn’t understand how the program pieces would help Josh, but this became our new homeschool program, and I was determined to implement it fully. Surprisingly, Joshua cooperated. It helped that each activity was short in duration and high in intensity and that I could always respond to his “why” with “because Sara said so.” The previously incredibly stubborn and belligerent child was becoming more and more cooperative.

After a month of working with Joshua on program, I had my two younger children evaluated. Again, Sara designed individualized homeschool programs for each of them addressing their educational and developmental needs.
Daniel would have done just fine in public school and was learning well at home, but I took NACD on their assurance that typical children can become exceptional. He began the NACD program when he was nine years old and going into 4th grade. Over the last three years he has improved five grade levels in math and seven grade levels in reading comprehension. Within two years of starting NACD, Daniel had maxed out on the standardized reading comprehension test. He is self-motivated, reads a lot, and loves to write. Recently he told me that working through his NACD program helps him picture his stories and put them into words, something that is clearly significant to him. He is currently enrolled in an online school and is excelling academically.

Rebekah was eight years old and in 3rd grade when she started NACD. At her first evaluation she tested at a second grade level in math and word recognition. Three years later, she is doing math at a sixth grade level, her word recognition is at nearly an eighth grade level, and reading comprehension is even higher—tenth grade level. Although reading was challenging for her at first and she avoided it at all costs, she now loves to read and needs to be reminded to do anything else. Still working through some speech issues with Lori, the NACD speech patholgist, Rebekah is making great strides developmentally and cognitively. I credit this to the individualized, focused input she is receiving through her NACD program.
Naturally, since Joshua’s were the greatest needs, the most profound changes we have experienced as a result of implementing the NACD program have been with him.

When Joshua was first evaluated by NACD at the age of 11, he scored at a sixth grade level in word recognition and reading comprehension, but only at a third grade level in math. After only four months on his NACD program, his reading comprehension jumped to a ninth grade level and math to fifth. He continues to gain academically and as of his last assessment, he is close to an eighth grade level in math, 10th grade level in word recognition, and he maxed the standardized reading comprehension test. It is the specific, personalized teaching, guided by NACD, which has produced these incredible results—with no medication. When I asked how NACD has helped him, Josh told me, “My thoughts used to be really scrambled, but I can think clearly now.” What a gift NACD has been to him, as well as to our whole family!

Without NACD, I feel that Joshua would still be lying on the ground kicking and screaming. Instead, he is a 15-year-old young man, who is much calmer and in control of his emotions, who responds to situations appropriately with few reminders, and who is aware of other people’s feelings. He is quiet and reserved, participates in various activities, such as scouting, camping trips, and karate. He is more compliant and reasonable, and his attention and behavior have improved dramatically, both at home and in other settings. It was nice to receive feedback from his scout leaders as they noticed significant improvements within the first year.

After that disheartening meeting with the neuropsychologist who pushed medication, I felt no hope that Joshua would ever be able to live on his own. This specialist, who no doubt had given similar recommendations to numerous other parents, pressured me to put my child in a private school and let the “experts” deal with him. NACD, on the other hand, empowered me to be the real expert on my child—after all, no one loves and knows him as well as I do. While Josh still has challenges, I am now confident that my child is growing into a responsible, contributing adult and a successful human being.

I’m so glad I opened that phone book and came upon the NACD listing. Although our difficulties are minor compared to what some NACD families face, honestly, I would have been lost without NACD. What they did for Joshua—what they are doing for all my children—is proof that every school, every counselor, should know about NACD.

NACD Newsletter, Volume 7 Issue 1, 2014 ©NACD

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My daughter Mary Beth had been diagnosed by the first grade with several labels – ADHD, dysgraphia, dyslexia, and auditory processing. Our small private school had a program called Discovery Lab where children with learning disabilities were helped on a one-on-one basis. They used a multi-sensory approach to teach our kids. Knowing no other alternative, we enrolled Mary Beth in this program.

Homework was still a struggle every night. What would take any other child about 15 minutes, would often last 2 hours. Studying for tests took at least a week of looking over the material every night. Mary Beth attended Discovery Lab during school hours, often missing some class time instruction for 3 years. At the end of 3rd grade a friend told me about NACD. I was very excited about what it could do for Mary Beth but still dragged my heels on getting her evaluated. In August of 2006, we went to Dallas to be evaluated by NACD. I’ll never forget the first thing her evaluator Lyn Waldeck said to me. She said, “It seems to me that Mary Beth is a big mystery to everyone. She’s not a mystery to me and we can fix her.“

I wanted to cry. Someone finally understood my child and was willing to help me. I wanted to fix the problem — not put big band aids on it. I love the way NACD looks at the entire child. They helped me overcome Mary Beth’s tactility issues as well as behavioral issues. At her first evaluation at the age of 9 1/2, her digit span was a 4. Within 6 – 8 months her digit span increased to 6 and now we are at a 7.

At the end of her 4th grade year her Discovery Lab teacher told me she could not think of anything else she could do that would help Mary Beth learn better. How disheartening after spending 4 years in this program! Thank God we had been doing NACD during that year and knew what would help Mary Beth improve.

She did not do Discovery Lab this past year. She has made the A/B honor roll twice this year. She studies and does her homework independently. Doing program is easy and not time consuming. Mary Beth is motivated to do her program because she gets paid for her efforts.

I realize now that my child’s success depends on my implementation of the program. To increase processing we have to do a little bit every day. What a difference a year can make. Thank you NACD for helping me to see the great potential my daughter has and not focusing on what she doesn’t have.

I shudder to think where we would be without NACD. Everyone should do this!

Reprinted by permission of The NACD Foundation, Volume 21 No. 8, 2008 ©NACD

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I remember a lot of things from before program, but I don’t remember how much having an inefficient brain affected all the things that happened to me. Some kids who have problems learning get to the point where they just say, “I have ADHD (or whatever their problem is called)” the same way they would say, “I have brown hair,” because the adults around them have taught them to think of the problem as being part of them. I never came to think of myself that way because, even though my mom knew I had all the symptoms of ADHD, she didn’t ever talk to me about it when I was younger, and she didn’t bother to get me diagnosed. Half of her family members had symptoms of ADHD, and they all grew up to be fine, so she didn’t think of it as being a big deal.

I don’t remember being easily distracted, because I was so young, and because I wasn’t aware of all of the things I was missing out on by being distracted. I didn’t feel any different before I did program than I did afterward, I just acted different because afterward I usually understood what I was supposed to do. Before, I would often miss important information from my teachers or my parents and just assume that I wasn’t supposed to do anything, and then I would get into trouble.

One thing I clearly remember is that I didn’t have any friends in first grade because of the odd habits I had. One day in school a boy told me he would be my friend, but on the same day on the way back to the school library, he saw me chewing on the book I had borrowed, and after that he didn’t want to have anything to do with me.

Another thing I remember is that my teacher set up a sticker chart just for me to help me do better in class, and at the time I wondered why she was doing all that for me and not for anyone else.

When Mom learned about NACD for the first time, she didn’t take me there because she didn’t see me as having that much of a problem. I’m very lucky to have a sister who was autistic because if she had been normal, Mom would never have gone to NACD and I would probably have been stuck with an inefficient brain for the rest of my life.

When my sister Celeste started having major problems, it was so gradual that it didn’t bother me very much. I learned to accept the fact that she wasn’t a normal sister, so when mom made us matching shirts it wasn’t fun for her, and playing with Barbie’s wasn’t fun for her either. It didn’t bother me much when she screamed a lot because I got so used to it, and because it was always Celeste and Mom’s problem and not mine.

When my sister had started program, and Mom was teaching her to read, I didn’t think she’d be able to learn. How could she learn to read when she couldn’t even talk the way normal kids did? But she did learn to read and after that she began to get better, although it took a long time.

I only had to do a couple of program activities. The first one I did was the Listening Program. I also had to wear both an earplug and an eye patch to help with my mixed dominance. I was often asked why I wore them by children, and sometimes by adults. Even when I explained, some people didn’t understand completely, or take me seriously.

Even though I don’t have the symptoms of ADHD anymore, I am still very creative. Right now, I’m writing a novel. I am also learning to play the piano, and I work with Simply Smarter to improve my sequential processing. According to the basic test, my auditory processing is at level 12. I will be turning seventeen soon. I’m finishing up my last class in my correspondence high school program this semester, and I’m taking a class on computer-aided design at a local junior college. I want to study engineering, and ultimately become an architectural engineer.

Program activities have changed my life and the lives of my family members. I’m so grateful that I had the chance to overcome my challenges by going to NACD.

Reprinted by permission of The NACD Foundation, Volume 21 No. 4, 2008 ©NACD

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His ankles were pronated and so he did not walk until late and really did not talk until he was over a year and a half old. When he got to be three we noticed that developmentally he seemed behind where we expected him to be. When we consulted with our doctor, he indicated that Chris was subject to a learning disability called “Attention Deficit Disorder.”

We enrolled Christopher in preschool in an effort to give him a leg up on school. The experience turned out to be positive and negative. He loved being with the teacher and kids and doing fun things. However, he became frustrated at learning numbers and letters.

During kindergarten the family moved to the Northwest from Nevada. The change in schools was disturbing to him. So the next year we decided to hold him back to give him a chance to have a successful kindergarten experience. We are glad we did.

During the kindergarten year we became friends with a couple who have been using the NACD program for some time. We listened to Bob Doman’s tapes about brain functioning and read some of the literature they had. We experimented using some of the activities that they had used, “games.” We saw immediate benefits and the teacher at school did also.

In March of 1988 we started on the NACD program and the benefits were incredible. For so long we were frustrated in going to people for advice and never feeling comfortable with the results. Now we were able to lovingly spend time with him working on developmental issues that attacked the source of the problem instead of the symptoms.

Crawling on the floor with my child gave me a new appreciation of his perspective. Our child has made dramatic progress in coordination, reading and math. He is now progressing well in his first grade work.

I am of the opinion that we will need to coach and work with Christopher for most of his youth, helping him to learn things, using repetition and periodically making sure that he is perceiving things using a strong right dominated (left brain) memory for intellectual activity. Christopher has proven to be a real persistent youngster and works much harder to achieve than a casual observer might perceive.

Christopher’s first grade teacher has applauded the progress and efforts taken. I only wish others could experience similar success. I believe that the concepts of programmed instruction and the emphasis for determining developmental steps to be sound. My wife and I are grateful that NACD and Bob Doman have made this program possible.

Reprinted by permission of The NACD Foundation, Volume 10 No. 8, 1996 ©NACD

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